


Status Quo

by IsisKitsune



Series: The Devil's in the details [11]
Category: Daredevil (TV), Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Defenders (Marvel TV)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Family Bonding, Family Dinners, Family Drama, Family Fluff, Gen, Human Disaster Matt Murdock, Human Disaster Peter Parker, Movie Night, Peter Parker is Matt Murdock's Biological Child, Why the music just change?, in this household we hug our kids!, mj meets the family, this is not a vegan or vegitarian household jsyk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-21
Updated: 2020-04-21
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:06:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23762800
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IsisKitsune/pseuds/IsisKitsune
Summary: Peter was smiling, laying back and just smiling  at the sky. “So,” Matt smiled as he flopped back with him, “What are we looking at?”“Freedom,” Matt chuckled, “Have you heard the news?”“Well, I was going to get updates on it, but then this kid just sprawled out on top of the roof of my building. So I figured I might want to check him out.”
Relationships: Happy Hogan/May Parker (Spider-Man), Michelle Jones/Peter Parker
Series: The Devil's in the details [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1704817
Comments: 4
Kudos: 233





	Status Quo

Peter was smiling, laying back and just smiling at the sky. “So,” Matt smiled as he flopped back with him, “What are we looking at?”

“Freedom,” Matt chuckled, “Have you heard the news?”

“Well, I was going to get updates on it, but then this kid just sprawled out on top of the roof of my building. So I figured I might want to check him out.”

“J.J. is in some federal level deep shit. Apparently, they couldn't produce the original video or the actual source. J.J. says it was emailed to them, can't find the email. Claims he had some kinda eye witness testimony of the event. But, no one's come forward. The guy's face is all over the news, and not in a good light. They're spinning it like some fucked up scheme to use the criminal element of the city to basically hit targets for him. Do you think I'll need to testify?”

“Doubt it, if he's smart, and the evidence is gone, he'll take whatever plea he'll get. Do you remember exactly what the charges were?”

“They're classifying it as murder for hire. 14 counts... Were there really 14 attempts?”

Matt sneered, “They missed 6. But those ones didn't use anything large enough to do major damage.”

“Seriously, and you just- Mother Gothel'ed me?! The whole time?!”

Matt chuckled at he sat up and kissed Peter's forehead, “Father knows best.”

Peter was a little ball of rage when Matt patted his head before heading inside. “20, over 20 different attempts at getting to me?”

“Don't worry about it, Peter, we minimized what we could.”

“People were using goddamn missiles at one point!”

“Don't remind me, they were loud.”

“Dad!”

Matt smiled, after... weeks of being 'Matt' for the press and for the guard and officers... “Yes, son?”

“Thank you, I- would have probably freaked out even worse than I was.”

Matt smiled then sighed, “Come here, now you have that damn song stuck in my head.”

Peter was chuckling as he rushed over to hug him, “I can't believe we did it.”

“I can't either. I, really can't.” Matt was smiling as he trudged, toward his bedroom and reached under the tv to open the doors, “I swear if you pop popcorn.”

Peter took a flying leap onto the bed before shrinking away from the glare as the sheets bellowed and the whole thing shifted when he landed on it, “I'll move it back... And no, I'm not popping popcorn,” Peter grinned and opened the pre-made bag of kennel corn. “Want some?”

“You are horrible, and you better not get crumbs of sticky shit all over my bed...”

“I'll wash the bedding.”

“Oh that worked so well last time.”

“I didn't know they were silk! I didn't know they would shrink!”

“Do you know how difficult it is to get broken in silk to shrink, Peter?”

Peter flailed, “No, you're the only one I know with silk anything...”

Matt sighed as he ran his fingers over his growing DVD collection, blinking, “It's Rapunzel right?”

“Yep, it's called Tangled but I labeled it Rapunzel 'cause that's the story it's about.”

“Okay,” Matt ran his hand along the player and smirked as he popped in the disk and hit the power button on it before settling in on the bed.

“Daaaad, the tv?”

“Oh right right, drawer, on your left.” Peter reached over and glared as he found the remote and turned it on. “This one has audio descriptions right?”

“Yep,” Peter was already shifting through the menu settings, “I hate having to keep turning them on... There should be like a memory in these things.”

“Peter, I'm pretty sure that player is older than you are... You did fish it out of a dumpster...”

“Last I heard, Claire fished you outa a dumpster, so I don't wanna hear it.”

Matt chuckled, “True.”

Peter shook his popcorn, making Matt glare at the rattle, “Want some?

Peter knew the moment the nose got to twitching it was just a matter of time when he kept leaning toward it while Peter finally turned on the descriptions before going to the main menu. “Fine, get the bowl...” Peter was grinning, bouncing over to grab a bowl to throw the popcorn in, shifting it around to try to get the unpopped kernels to drop to the bottom before bouncing back to sprawl out and offer the bowl, smirking when Matt took a good ten seconds to find the kernel he wanted before eating it. “You're judging.”

“I'm amused, there's a difference.”

“Sure, sure,” Matt another kernel he liked and crunched on it while Peter turned on the movie. “I missed this.” Peter blinked, “It's not, panicked, or scared or anxious. It's been too long since I heard it.”

It took entirely too long to understand that, “What, my pulse?”

“Everything. After days of it, it just, starting to be, normal. I missed this.”

Peter smirked before grinning, “You know, Mother Gothel kinda reminds of Jess, the build I mean, her hair. The volume and curl but hers are tighter than Jess' and she stands much taller, I'd say she'd nearly stand next to you.”

“Really,” Matt was grinning, “Like Jess?”

“She's got the whole, scowl at you thing going on. But her face is way different much more obvious nose. She's also got the ability to flip it when she wants to. Sweetest mother in the world all wide eyes and 'Trust in meeeee' hiss and all,” Matt laughed, he remembered the snake with the rainbow eyes. “But then she can flip it and turn into this like 'don't fuck with me or I'll rip your face off' scowl. But that's where the similarities end.” Peter munched on popcorn. “Rider, well...”

“Well?”

“I'm trying to think who we know I can compare him to, alright.” Peter shifted to pull a pillow behind his head, “Actually, did you ever see the... Road to El Dorado movie? Wait, no that's why after. Hmm... Danny, maybe?”

“Maybe?”

“It's, off a bit, but I'm trying here...”

Matt was chuckling as he munched on another kernel. “I bet Rapunzel reminds of Karen. She's blond, slender built. Ambitious as hell. And can definitely hold her own.”

“Nah, Rapunzel is all immediate trust and completely innocent, like baby innocent about everything. Like, grass made her freak out and everything. But yeah, appearance wise, Karen's a good example. And definitely true about ambition and holding her own.”

“She use to be, when we first met. Not about grass mind you, but- She trusted us, Foggy and Me, when we were, no one and nothing in the legal world.”

“And now, you have so many clients you're actually thinking of creating a full blown firm. Oh wait, no I'm predicting the future again,”

“Again, there was a first time?”

“... I could have sworn I, at some point, said everything would be okay...”

“No, I said everything would be okay, you got put up for vigilantism and murder charges and were too busy freaking the fuck out about it. But, I'm glad I was right.”

“Me too.” Peter was munching away at his popcorn, “So, um, odd question. When you said you thought Happy was legit... You were serious?”

“Yeah, he's legit.”

“How, exactly did you know? Have you talked to him about it?”

“No, May told, well 'told' me. Figured it out from her.”

“Oh?”

“Relax, Peter, they're not doing that.”

“What?” Peter was doing his impression of an owl, blinking at him, he just knew it, “Wait, ew... EW!”

Matt wince when the kid jumped up, he caught the bowl while Peter paced, “I said they weren't doing that.”

“The fact that you- ew. Creepy, Matt. Really fucking creepy! How do you even... No, I don't/do want to know that.”

“The same way I know you have a girlfriend. Who doesn't care for make-up except maybe a touch of balm or gloss on occasion that has a thing for brushing arms as apposed to holding hands, and kissed you... 3 hours ago? I wondered where you rushed off too but I didn't push when you rushed off. I figured you deserved some privacy considering she's probably been panic calling your phone since your name was plastered all over Times Square.” Matt sighed as he rubbed his eyes, “I also know you have feelings for her, not just lust. Just, please be careful, I'm way too young to be a grandfather.”

Peter groaned and covered his face, “You... Jesus Christ I'm dating my father... I am not okay with this!”

“What?”

“She and you would get along like a house on fire... Oh, um, she knows.”

“What?” Matt sat up to blink at him, “She knows?” Peter was nodding, “How much does she know?”

“Just me? Just, me.”

“It doesn't stay just you, Peter. We'd have to be more careful.”

Peter winced, “To be far, she figured it out on her own...”

“Really?”

“Okay, so, I got her a present when we went to Europe-”

“Classy.”

“Well we went for a walk before curfew and then she, I was going to ask he out, and she just blurted it out when I asked her if we could talk.”

“And of course, you turn into a stammering mess whenever you like someone.”

Peter paced before rushing the bed to hug him, “I hate you.”

Matt laughed, “I know, but it's the truth.”

Peter flailed before flopping back down and grumbling, “I took her swinging...”

“Her reaction?”

“Yours was better. But she's getting use to it.”

Matt snickered, “I'll stick to my grapple thanks.” He chuckled, “Do you want to invite her for dinner?”

“Could I? I Love Aunt May, but she just... Some things do not belong in food at least not together.”

Matt chuckled, “When, and does she have any allergies or preferences?”

“I'll double check with her.”

“And make sure to invite your Aunt May.”

-

Matt was cleaning green beans, getting them ready to go into the pan when he realized there was someone lingering outside his door. He disregarded it, for a bit, checking on the roast every now and then as he moved onto slicing potatoes and seasoning them to join the roast. He should have an hour or so before everything needed to be ready. And the way the damn green beans were it'd take about that long to get the chemical sting out of them. “Organic my ass,” he'd have to soak it out of them. He'd already scrubbed down most of the bits of debris that gathered in the fine hairs. His timer went off and he grumbled as he dropped everything and scrubbed his hands before getting the potatoes in the pot with the roast and shutting the door, resetting timer and then frowning as he threw his 'organic' green beans in a bowl and left the water running over them. It didn't stand a change of getting the deep rooted taste from them but it still made him feel a lot better when he wasn't tasting freshly sprayed chemicals.

He checked his watch, trying to decide if it was too early for a beer at that point. Instead he decided to check out what the hell was going on at his door and grabbed his cane, keys and glasses, patting his wallet in it's pocket before opening the door and instantly smacking his cane into a foot and jumping back, “Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, are you alright?”

“Yeah, I'm fine, ow. Sorry, I just, I'm supposed to meet Peter here for dinner and I just, was wondering if any help was needed.”

Matt blinked and put on his 'surprised/innocent' smile, “Actually I was just about to go down to the bodega real quick. I, uh, just realized I don't have any sauces for the roast. I hear some people like them but I don't really care for them so I don't get them very often. Would you, like to go with me, since you're one of the ones going to be using it, if you do.”

“Sure, nothing better to do,” Matt smiled as he pulled the door shut behind him and locked it. “Most of the time people just get A1 or the sauce that can not be pronounce.”

“Huh?” Matt tilted his head as he started down the stairs, “Can not be pronounced?”

“Yeah, you know the one, named for a place. No one ever says it the same way twice?”

“Oh, starts with a W and ends god only knows how?”

“Yes, that one.”

Matt chuckled, “Yeah, I couldn't even read that word. Still have issues sometimes. Just the way it's spelled makes me always have to piece it together every time. It doesn't get better with age is what I'm getting at.”

Well, his night was looking up, at least that got a laugh, “I was honestly hoping it would, bummer.”

“Nope, just aches and pains, and maybe some more wisdom along the way.” He tripped over a new crack in the path and sighed, “And change.”

“You can relax, you know? I've got no problem leading if you want. Just tell me how far we're heading.”

Matt blinked and stepped aside, “Is that a gift or something you picked up?”

Matt smiled at the shrug, “I'm not all that social, I guess I just picked it up from people watching.”

Matt shook his head and chuckled as he swapped his cane to his other hand and reached out, “If you don't mind.”

“Sure,” Matt felt a small hand grip his before leading it to a small arm, “So, which way?”

“Take a left at the corner two buildings from it is the bodega.”

“Aye aye,” Matt was grinning as he relaxed a bit, shifting his grip up to her shoulder and smiled when she seemed to relax as well. “Easier with smaller guides?”

“Yeah, long as I don't tap between the shoulder and neck, it usually goes better than the arm.”

“Hm?” Matt chuckled at the shift as she looked toward him.

“There's a nerve, some people are sensitive to it, some don't even realize it's there.” Matt shifted his hand to tap a finger down, making her flinch, “Like that.”

“Okay, yeah I see what you mean.”

“One of those things to remember if you get in a pinch.” Matt automatically turned left when they reached his destination before chuckling and bumping straight into her, “Sorry, I was counting.”

“No, it was my fault, I wasn't paying attention. Alright, roast sauces. This way.” Matt smiled and dropped his hand when she looked over the different bottles while Matt headed over to the right area. He might not get it often but he knew where it was. It took a few minutes before she headed his way, while he checked on his watch to figure out how much time he had left. “Sorry I ran off, figured you'd know the store well enough and you did say the sauces were for those that like it.”

Matt was smiling and nodding, “True.”

“So, any last minute things needed while we're here?”

Matt smirked, “Peter likes this, pre-made popcorn. It's um, sweet and salty. Can you grab a couple for me?”

“Oh, kettle corn? Yeah, I got him hooked on that. I guess it's what I get for sharing.”

Matt blinked when he caught a familiar scent and steps, “Jessica?”

“Oh, fuck, did I choose the wrong bodega...” Matt grabbed her arm at the slur to her words, “Don't start with the lecture, alright?”

“Everything alright?”

“Been a night, that's all.”

“A night or a bad night?”

Jessica rubbed her eyes, “Little of both.”

“Drinking to forget or sleep?”

“Little of column A a little bit of fuck off.”

Matt's head tilted toward the young woman stepping toward them, “Hey, um, can you pay for those for me?” He grabbed his wallet to pull a couple of bills, “Just, hold onto the change and head back, Peter and May should be getting back soon to let you back in.” Matt grabbed the bottle before Jessica could, “No.”

“Come on Murdock, ain't we celebrating the kid's verdict?”

“That was yesterday, Jess, have you even dried out since the trial?” Matt's head tilted toward the feet following them, “I swear to god, Jones, if you make me burn my roast-”

“I'm a big girl, Murdock, I can get home all on my own.”

“The fact that you ended up in my bodega tells me something is majorly wrong. And you being sloshed tells me something happened now speak up. What's wrong.” Matt pulled her into an alley, away from the feet.

“Some, leather clad asshole showed up at my office... Pissed me off.”

“Made threats?”

“When don't they?”

“Would you say it's a 'Solid Snake' type of guy?”

“-the fuck is that?”

Matt shook his head, “It's what Peter used to describe some guy he dealt with overseas.”

“Look, just, watch your ass Murdock.” Matt blinked when discord chimed on his phone. “Alright?”

Matt nodded, “Alright.”

“Now be a good asshole, and tell me I'm drunk and to go home.”

Matt blinked before sniffing and blinking again, “You okay?”

“I'm fine,” Jessica purposefully leaned into him, breathing hard. Matt suddenly understood.

She was dry, stone cold sober, reeking of alcohol but none of it on her breath. “You're drunk, go home.”

“Oh fuck off asshole,” Jessica shoved him off before giving him the middle finger over her shoulder before they parted ways.

“Everything alright?” Matt jumped, “Sorry, everything alright?”

“Yeah,” Matt composed himself, “Just, a client that seems to have fallen off the wagon. I told her to call her sponsor and get home.”

“You okay, you seem, tense.”

“Just, didn't expect that.” Matt shifted, “Did I give you enough to get everything?”

“Yeah, I've got change, I can give it to you when we get back.” Matt was frowning and trying to think on the way back, checking his watch and cursing as he started double timing it back, “What's the rush?”

“My timer is about to go off.” Matt bounded up the steps the moment his hand hit the rail, only taking a few seconds to get his lock open and head inside. He had enough time to grab the pot holders as the timer went off, “Sorry to leave you holding the bag,” he called as she caught up, “Can you shut the door when you get in?” Matt sighed at the bowl still filled with green beans and water and just sighed at it. “Hey, I'll take those,” Matt smiled as signaled to set the bag down before he three the popcorn off to the side of the counter, knowing Peter would probably get to them before the night was over. “This yours?” Matt smiled as he set down the glass bottle and chuckled at the 'yep' before it was grabbed to stay out of his way. “Um, let's just call this side of the island my area? It can be a little difficult dancing around new people in the kitchen.”

“Got it,” she headed over to have a seat on the couch as he turned to get the fridge to get the ingredients to get the green beans cooked while the meat rested.

-

Matt was smiling as MJ was chattering, “Then we just see this plume of smoke from the back and Peter's just sitting there wide eyed and goes, “Oops,” the whole lab smelt like sulfur for a week because the fans needed cleaning and they couldn't get to it until the weekend.”

Matt snorted and laughed, “That explains it, he came over reeking of sulfur, he was being really sheepish about it and asked how to get scents out of skin. I told him to go scrub down with lemon juice. He was not happy about that. Apparently he'd scrubbed himself raw by then.”

“Ouch, salt in the wound,” MJ winced before she took another bite.

Matt was grinning as he shoved his green beans away, those were a mistake... “Oh, Peter never said what you wanted for dessert, so I've got ice cream and I made a chocolate pie. If nothing else I know he'll make sure it gets eaten.”

“Cool,” Matt smiled as he checked his watch and frowned, “He does that some times. Runs late.”

“Yeah, I know, but not usually this long when May's with him.”

“Let me give them a call, see if they forgot or is something happened on the way over.” Matt smiled as he stood and headed into his room to grab his phone., “Call Peter.”

“Hey, Matt, I know we're late, sorry.”

Matt tensed, “What's that noise?”

“Baby crying, shhhhh it's okay, Mommy's okay.” Peter was finally able to get the background noise to quiet, “Um, there was a car accident, a 3 car pile up. We're waiting for the ambulance to make sure everyone's okay, cause of this little lady, but we weren't involved. What I didn't know about May's second job? She's a nurse!”

Matt took a deep breath before chuckling, “Everyone's okay?”

“So far so good, few bumps and bruises, I'm on little lady watch until the ambulance comes in. Mommy's got a headache, doesn't she, yeah but she's gonna be fine.” Matt sighed at the giggling, “Yeah, there she is, I can't let you hold her alone right now just in case you get woozy but I can help you hold her.”

Matt took a deep breath, “Just, let me know when you're on the way.”

“Will do, sorry we're so late. We didn't really expect to run into this.”

“It's alright. I was just worried. The ambulance should be turning onto the block soon.”

“Yeah, I hear it now. We'll be there soon.”

Matt took a deeper breath and calmed his pounding heart as the call disconnected before he headed back to dinner, “They happened on an accident on the way over. They're staying and helping until the ambulance gets there to make sure everyone's alright but it looks like they are.”

“Oh, good,” MJ chuckled, “That's just Peter's luck, isn't it?”

“He gets it from his father,” Matt smiled and shook his head as he settled in. “I just hope they get in before dinner gets too cold.”

“This is really good, Mr. Murdock.” Matt sighed, “Peter actually warned that you tended to cook a bit on the bland side, but this is not in any way bland.”

“Just Matt, please, and I'll admit to spicing it up a bit more than I normally would. I usually only cook bland when I cook for myself. I, have a sensitive palette, things can just, irk sometimes.”

“So, I take it the green beans didn't turn out right for you then.”

Matt dropped his head, “I'm beginning to think Peter was right, but yes, they weren't the ones I usually get. Those ones just started out irking me and I couldn't get them to the point that they weren't.”

MJ hummed as she speared one of the little bean abominations and chomped on it, “Well, you definitely made the best of a bad starting point.”

Matt chuckled, “Thank you.” His head ticked toward the door when he heard steps enter the building. He reacted when she did, turning his heard toward the door when it attempted to open only to stay closed, “Oops I automatically locked the door, I'll get it.”

“Smart,” Matt called as he heard the lock click open before she opened the door.

“Sorry we're late, ran into something, not like literally but yeah-” Peter was being nervous, probably adrenaline left over from the incident on the way. “Did you know Aunt May was a nurse?”

“I remember her asking me to get some school info from Claire, but once I gave her her number I hadn't heard anything else about it.”

“Deflecting,” Peter practically sang as they settles down, “So, what's for dinner, I'm starving!”

“You're always starving, roast with the fixings and green beans.”

Matt smirked, at Peter's bouncing when he checked on the roast, “You kept the end pieces for me!”

“I do not understand why you like the dried out ends...”

“Shush you, I like the extra tender pieces, plus most fat and flavor,” Matt nodded as he felt Peter waving the carving knife in his general direction instead of pointing fingers.

“Peter, don't wave that at him, what if he stood up?”

Peter froze before pulled the knife in, “Matt doesn't stand up during dinner without a reason.”

Matt shook his head, “He was pointing with the knife again, wasn't he?”

“That's a regular occurrence?”

“Make sure you eat up, Pete, I know how many calories you need a day.”

“I fully intend to. Ooooo garlic butter green beans?”

“They are awesome,” MJ was grinning.

“They always are,” Matt reached over when Peter set his plate down and pulled it over to swipe his own onto it, “Hey, what? You don't like them?”

“They weren't organic.”

“Oh,” Peter seemed to shrink as his plate was pushed back toward him, “Did they say organic?”

“Supposedly,” Matt shrugged, “Probably a stocking mix up or someone wasn't paying attention.”

“You usually don't have issues with them.”

“Yeah, well, apparently they sprayed right before harvest.”

Peter made a disgusted sound, “And now I don't want them.”

“Eat up, kid, you wouldn't have had a clue until I said something.”

“Probably right.”

Matt was frowning as he ate, “Jess is off the wagon,” Peter froze, “She sent me a message but I'm honestly a little worried to check her drunk rambling. Do you want to take a look at it for me?”

“Sure, here,” Peter grabbed the phone and tilted it to open the message and tensed, “Huh, she really was off the wagon. Think she meant to send that to me. Looks like a job. Jess is a PI, I work with her sometimes, getting pictures and video on people. Probably some fraud case or something she got flipped.”

Matt sighed before nodding, “Alright, I'll make sure she knows when she dries out.” He took the phone back and shoved it into his pocket. So it was the guy Peter met in Europe. He needed to break the tension, he'd put Peter on high alert with that image, “So, MJ outed you.” He was confused blinking and shifting, “The Sulfur incident, the one that had you reeking of it for nearly a week.”

Peter groaned and rattled his plate when his head dropped onto the counter, “I thought I swore you to secrecy!”

“I never swore to anything,” Matt smirked, while MJ shrugged, “And he didn't even know about it, so I know you didn't swear him to it.”

“Wait, is that why out washer and drying smelled like rotten eggs...”

Peter grumbled, while Matt chuckled, “I'm starting to agree with you.”

Peter groaned and leaned back up, “I told you.”

“Agreeing,” May finally spoke up, turning to look between them.

“He had a bit of a realization. He said he was dating his father...”

May was looking at Peter, so confused, while MJ just shrugged, “I can see that. Not entirely true, but I could see where he got it from.”

“Really,” Peter was dumbstruck.

“Yeah, he's observant too, called me out on it pretty much instantly.” Peter's utensils slammed against the counter, making May laugh as Matt smirked and tilted his head. “He'd have to be though, wouldn't he? You have to when you can't see, otherwise you'd end up hurt constantly.”

Peter dropped his head at May's look, “You didn't tell her?”

“We don't exactly project it to everyone, May. I mean, it's what saved us from problems during the trial! No, I didn't tell her...”

“So, what, I'm just your lawyer and cook? What was this then, a celebration dinner?”

“I told her Aunt May and you were wanting to have dinner, like a family thing, yeah. But I didn't really give specifics...”

“Peter,” May's voice was a bit more amused than reprimand.

“They aren't dating, it's obvious.” Matt sighed a 'thank god', while May chuckled, “So, this is your dad?”

Peter sighed and nodded, “Yeah, this is my dad.”

Matt shook his head, “Want a drink, May?”

“I could use one, just-”

“Not beer. I've got some red wine for you.”

“Matt, you are a godsend,” she was smiling as he pulled the bottle from the cabinet and grabbed a glass. “But you still don't have wine glasses...”

“I don't drink wine that often, May, I leave that glasses to you.” May was shaking her head as she grabbed the normal glass held out to her while he tore open the seal on the wine. “I still don't see why you like red so much.” Matt glared when the cork kept shifting in his grip before finally getting a grasp on it and jolting when he got it free. “It's too...”

“Red?”

Matt snickered as he reached out to pour, “It's the sediment in it-”

May hummed as she tapped the back of his hand, signally him to stop the pour, “Try white, you might like it better.”

“I'll stick with beer.”

“You have issues with wine but not beer?”

“Why do you think everyone calls it 'German piss'... it's one of the only ones I can find that's filtered to an inch of being classified as hop water.”

“It is hop water,” May whispered over her glass as she gave Peter a wink and sipping her wine.

Peter was tapping his foot, seeming to be mechanically shoveling food into his mouth when he finished with his bite, head down and completely locked away in his head when Matt frowned at him, “Something wrong?”

“She knows,” Matt blinked before dropping his head, May's dropping her fork gave him the reason behind why he was so tense about it. “I wanted to tell you after I got back but then we, had everything happen and the trial and I just, couldn't risk anyone being hurt so we kept you all way from it. So, yeah-”

“Seriously, Peter... You could have warned me,” Matt grumbled, “I would have offered something stronger than wine.” He grabbed a bottle from the counter to slide it over to May, who'd already finished he glass.

“So, how did it happen?” May was watching Peter as she grabbed the bottle and poured a good splash into her glass while Matt winced at the thought of the mixture as she downed it.

“I figured it out, it was pretty obvious.”

“How obvious?”

Matt reached out and squeezed her shoulder, before leaning over and whispered in her ear, “As obvious as I know you stayed with Happy during the trial.”

May blinked, eyes going wide while Peter's jaw dropped, “What?!”

MJ blinked at Peter, “What?”

May was panicked until she realized the difference in the reaction, MJ's utter confusion while Peter was looking dumbstruck and like he wanted to answers to a million questions. “Okay, so, not that... obvious.”

“Yeah.”

“You stayed with Happy... I thought you were just 'hanging out', and you, you said they weren't.. like that!”

“Calm down, Peter. It's not like that.”

“You just opened a whole can of worms, Murdock, fix it,” May glared as Peter ranted.

“He had a spare room...” Peter seemed to be stunned into silence in mid rant. “It wasn't the couch, so it had to be a spare room. Couches always have a... chemical smell to them, they never get washed just dusted off and left usually to end up reeking like... dead skin and oil. They ate together, sometimes got comfortable in the same space, but it was never like that.”

“Happy, he's a friend Peter. I told you, we are, not that far yet.”

Peter seemed to drop back into his chair before sighing and covering his eyes, “And I just fucked everything up.”

Matt realized that a whole lot of attention was suddenly on him, his head turning toward MJ when she settled back and hummed, “So, which one are you?”

“Which one?”

“Peter definitely inherited your poker face, that answers my question.”

May shoved the bottle his way, he grabbed it automatically before grabbing a fresh tumbler, “Trust me, you want to stay as far away from this as possible.”

“Does this mean I can tell you the message Jess left under the picture?”

Matt tilted his head toward Peter's voice, “What message?”

“She, um, said 'watch your back, he was looking for the Devil'.”

“Great,” just his luck.


End file.
